Jim here. Looks like there is some great word of mouth happening about yesterday's football match between Manchester United and Arsenal!
Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-1.
UK fans had this to say (via Mirror.co.uk): Lifelong Arsenal fan Alan Howe, 66, who watched the game at a pub in the capital, said: "I have HD at home and I thought nothing could get better than that. But this certainly is. It's mind-boggling."
United fan Josie Haigh, 28, a solicitor from Huddersfield,West Yorks, said: "It's amazing. The close-up shots are really good. It feels like you are being sucked into the screen."
Ben Smart, 27, a Man U supporter from Leeds, said: "What a game. It feels even better to win in 3D."
The identity of the nine pubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin where the game was shown in 3D had been kept top secret so that they weren't swamped by fans.
Sky (with 3D services from 3ality Digital) says 3D home sets will be on the market in the next six months. Companies hope to sell sets costing between £700 and £1,000 ($1100 and $1600).
...And fans from Scotland (via news.scotsman.com): James Wright, 34, who travelled across from Falkirk for the match, said: "It's fantastic. With that sort of depth it feels like you're actually there as opposed to watching it on the telly. It gives the impression that the TV is about 500 miles long."
Andrew Christie, 37, also from Falkirk, said: "The close-up, mid-range shots were really effective."
And Deborah Morrison, 24, from Livingston said she could see herself getting really into football matches for the first time after experiencing the beautiful game in 3D. She said: "I've never been that interested in watching the footy but this made the atmosphere really effective."
This is great news indeed! While there was one report of a newspaper not liking it (metro.co.uk), it was very evasive in trying to explain why. I find those reports to be on the "contrary makes news" side of things as clearly patrons loved it (there were no quotes in the Metro piece from customers at all - just the lone reporter). Thanks for the heads up Matthew!
I take this all as a hearty endorsement of the format and venue possibilities! The screens will get larger of course (these screenings were on 47" LG S3DHD TVs - though Sky cannot air in true HD yet in 3D for both eyes). So if you lean more towards theatrical live 3D sports or those shown in pubs, it is not hard to see the parallax... err, parellel between them all - FUN! Stay tuned for more!!
3DTV owners in the UK rejoice! Starting October 1, you will be able to enjoy Ryder Cup Golf and movies such as MONSTERS VS. ALIENS on your new SKY+HD channel. After in the field testing at more than 1500 locations, SKY is ready for primetime.
